Refuge
by starlight.moon.princess
Summary: "I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it." - Maya Angelou :: Dean wakes in a world of stark white, full of Healers and potions. But he has Seamus by his side, and that's how he knows he has the strength to heal :: DeanSeamus
1. Wake

_For Essa - I hope you like it! :)_

**Also for the Monthly Slash-tastic Drabble-athon Competition (37. blurry)**

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You wake to white.

In that moment, white is all your world consists – stark and unforgiving, the colour of hospitals and death. You wonder if it means that you're dead.

That's when you hear him. The boy whispering at you side, telling you something that's just out of your grasp-

A blink.

And suddenly, memories rush back to you, making you realise that you aren't dead. You're at St Mungo's, and you're alive. You've somehow managed to survive the attack on Hogwarts.

(And there's a part of you that wonders if Harry survived. If you're in a hospital and not dead, that means he's alive, doesn't it?)

"Dean? Dean! You're awake! Oh god, I love you Dean, please don't do that me ever again!" the boy's – Seamus, your mind whispers – litany of prayers and thanks finally reach your ears.

Slowly, painfully, you turn your head to look at him. Somewhere in your mind, you know your body is as broken as your mind feels. And yet, he looks at you like you're the most precious thing in the world, like there's nothing that can compare to your beauty.

"I love you," he whispers again, bending down to kiss you on the corner of your mouth, the only sliver of skin that isn't a constant throb of pain.

You're still a little hazy – there's still so much you cannot remember, and you still don't know if Harry won or lost. But Seamus is by your side, and somehow, you know that everything is going to be okay.

After all, you're not just you anymore. You're Dean.

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**I hope you guys liked it! As always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)**


	2. Broken

**Also for the Monthly Slash-tastic Drabble-athon competition (17. cracked)**

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You were wrong.

Just becoming Dean once again doesn't make everything fine. You didn't know it when you first awoke, but there was a reason that you were hurting all over, apart from the obvious explanation of the battle.

You're scarred, and badly. It turns out running into a burning classroom is never a good thing, even if you did it to save a trapped first year.

They say that all the scars will fade in time. But it doesn't change the fact that you're going to need months of rehabilitation – and then there's your hands.

They're the most badly injured parts of your body. It makes sense – you used them to grab onto that little girl's hand and pull her through the classroom, after all. And yet- the first time you see them, you can almost hear your heart breaking into two. You're an artist, and what good is an artist without functional hands?

Seamus tells you that you're just being defeatist. That your hands aren't permanently damaged – they're just scarred, and with proper care, ever those will fade. He promises you that he'll be there by your side throughout your physical therapy sessions, but you cannot help but feel like some essential part of you has broken irreversibly.

And then the doctors give you an all clear – at least, the all clear that you've been waiting for. When Seamus' lips truly touch yours after nearly a week of agonizing closeness and stolen half-kisses, you can almost believe that everything will be okay.

You have Seamus by your side, after all.

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**I hope you guys liked it! As always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)**


	3. Try and Try Again

**Also for the Monthly Slash-tastic Drabble-athon Competition (54. strong hands)**

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Intellectually, you know that rehabilitation and physical therapy will be painful. You've prepared yourself for it – it couldn't be worse than the year you spent on the run, after all.

And then you try to grip a pencil for the first time since you woke in St Mungo's, and all of that flies out the window. The only thing you can think about is that it _hurts_.

Seamus is by your side, encouraging you to keep going. But the though of flexing your hand like that ten times – the amount the Healer said that you were supposed to try and achieve – is too much to think about. You'll never be able to make it; it's just too painful.

With a defeated sigh, you allow your palm to open and the pencil to slip out of it. You don't deserve to be called a Gryffindor – Harry has spent seven years fighting against Voldemort, and you couldn't even bear the thought of twenty minutes of pain. Where's your courage now?

You're ashamed that Seamus had to see you like this, broken and useless. It's confirmed – you cannot even draw, so what use are you?

But Seamus has never been one to give up on you, even if you give up on yourself. It's his encouraging smile, and the hand that grips yours that convinces you to try – one more time.

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**I hope you guys liked it! As always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)**


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